
‘I don’t have the answers, but I have faith that God will work it out,’ Warrens Dolcine, a Haitian living in New York City, tells NBC News.
Thousands of Haitians who fled the tumultuous country due to temporary protections given by the Biden administration now fear they will be sent back since President-elect Donald Trump has promised mass deportations on “day one” of his new term, NBC News reports.
President Joe Biden and his team has allowed eligible individuals to stay in the country for up to two years with a temporary protected status (TPS), also allowing them to work. Given certain criteria, applicants must pass security screenings and are required to have a U.S.-based sponsor.
“If my mom has a problem, I have a problem,” she said. “She asks, ‘What will happen to us?’ I don’t have the answers, but I have faith that God will work it out.”
While U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services highlight hopeful beneficiaries of the program go through strenuous background checks to guarantee no possible security threat to U.S. soil; there have been some issues with TPS programs in the past.
Orilas Jean Francois, who owned construction and finance business in Haiti, was forced to flee as violence became too much to bear. But his trip was pushed back several times even after being authorized to enter the U.S. under the Humanitarian Parole Program.
The delay resulted in his initial authorization expiring, so he was forced to petition the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for an extension.
“The stress was unbearable,” he said.
Despite the fear of being sent back, refugees like Dolcine aren’t letting Trump’s threats get to her. “He talks a lot,” she said. “I’m just going to live in the moment and let things be.”
The violence in Haiti doesn’t seem to be getting better. According to the Associated Press, data from the International Organization for Migration claims the “relentless gang violence” is heightening displacement there and threatening the collapse of healthcare and other humanitarian services. Food scarcity is increasing as the country is labeled as one of the poorest in the world.
Source: Black Enterprise